SOCIETY AND ENVIRONMENT Environment can be described as the natural world of land, water, air, plants and animals that exist around us. It forms the basis of our existence and development. ‘The dictionary meaning of the word ‘environment’ is ‘surrounding’- the external conditions influencing development or growth of people, animals or plants; living ‘or working conditions etc. In the beginning, the environment of early man had consisted of only physical aspects of the planet earth (land air, water) and biotic and institutions) but with the march of time and advancement of society, man extended his environment through his social, economic and political functions. Environment, therefore, refers to the sum total of conditions, which surround man ata given point of time. Inthis lesson, we are going to leam about our environment. Environment, once the focus of only geographical study, had been neglected and pushed to the background. Ithas recently regained its position. As of today, Environmental issues are no longer confined to geography and allied disciplines but have also drawn the attention ofthe common man, After reading this lesson, you will be able to: © explain the meaning of environment; © explain the relationship between man and his environment; ‘© explain bio-sphere and socio-sphere; and © explain the effects of environment on human society. SociotocySociety and Our Environment Environmentis viewed in different ways and angles by different groups of people and disciplines. Itay be safely argued that environment isan inseparable whole and is constituted by the interacting systems of physical, biological and cultural elements which are inter-linked individually as well as collectively inmany ways. Physical elements (space, landform, water bodies, climate soils, rocks and minerals) determine the variable character of the human habitat, its opportunities as well as its limitations. Biological elements (plants, animals, micro-organisms and man) constitute the biosphere; cultural elements (economic, social and political) are essentially man-made features, which go info the making of cultural milieu. The term ‘environment’ originates from the French word ‘environ’ or‘environner’ meaning ‘around’, ‘round-about’, ‘to surround” or ‘to encompass’, ‘The environmentis both physical and biological concept, it includes both the non- living (abiotic) and living (biotic) components ofthe planet earth: Thus based on asic structure, the environment can be divided into two basic types i.e. 1) Physical orabiotic environment and 2) Biological or biotic environment. Based on physical characteristics and state, abiotic or physical environmentis sub divided into three broad categories — @ Lithosphere (solid earth) @ Hydrosphere (water component) and Gil) Atmosphere (gas). “The biotic components of the environment consist of plants (Flora) and animals (Fauna) including man asan important component and micro organisms. 22,3 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MAN AND PNAS SOSA EOL “The study of relationship between man and environment has always: attracted. attention. The relationship of man and enviornment has also influenced the ZZ SOCIOLOGYdevelopment of human society. Itmay be noted that, ofall the organisms, man is the most skilled and civilized and therefore, itis significant to note the following three aspects ofman.: © Physical man is acomponentofthe biological community ands such, requires basic elements of physical environment such as air, water, food and habitat €tc, like other biological population and release wastes inthe eco-system. Gi) Social man establishes the social institutions, forms the social organizations and formulates laws and policies to safeguard his existence, interests and welfire, : il) Economic man derives and utilizes resource from the physical and biological environment with hs skills and technologies. . ‘The changing relationship of man withthe environment from pre-historic to modem times cai be divided into the following four periods: - (@) Hunting and food gathering. (b) Animal domestication and pastoralisin: (©) Plant domestication and agriculture, (@ Science, technology and industrialization. (a) Period of hunting and food gathering This period is related tothe most primitive man when he had been basically a part of natural environment and was functionally as a ‘biological man’ or ‘physical ‘man’ because his basic requiremrents were limited to food and shelter. The natural environment satisfied all his wants. The relationship between man and the environment was very friendly. Man was leading a nomadic life. Then a stage came when he leamt to hunt animals. The discovery of ‘fire’, which was accidental, taught man to cook animal flesh before eating, So we can say that the discovery of fire and subsequently, invention of tools and weapons made man capable of exploiting natural resources for his benefit. Some would also conchide by saying that “fire was the first major ecological tool used by man to change the environment for hisown benefit. (b) Period of Animal Domestication and Pastoralism With the passage of time, primitive man leamt to domesticate animals forhis benefits. Inthe beginning, he might have domesticated some mich /catle and animals for meat and slowly his herd of domesticated animals must have increased. Domestication of animals mighthave given birth to group or community life amongthe river valleys due to availabil problems and inter-dependent. French] ere early people in order to protect their flock and themselves from wild animals. ‘They still stuck to nomadic way of life, as they had to move from one place to other in search of water, food for themselves and fodder for animals. (Period of Plant Domestication and Agriculture ‘Domestication of plants for food became ahall mark in the development of human skills of taming and controlling the biotic component ofthe natural environment system. Domestication of plants initiated primitive type ofagriculture and sedentary settled life of people who were nomads. Cultivation of food crops resulted in the formation of social groups and organizations. Now man started settling down in ity of water and fertile land which came to be knownas ‘river-valley civilization’ . From here onwards started the journey ‘of mano transform the natural environmental resources around hirn through improved farming practices resulting in gradual increase in human population. This led to clearing of foresisto have aocess more agricultural land. With the passage of time, man developed his own cultural environment by building bouses and creating towns and cities, constructing roads and bridges. (@ Period of Science, Technology and Industrialization fi “The advancement ofindustrial revolution in late nineteenth century and emergence of'science and development of sophisticated technology, embittered the friendly relationship between man and his natural environment. The impact of modem ishighly complex and controversial. Highly ofnatural environment which have created most of the present day environmental From the days of early primitive man till today, man has venerated nature in different forms(trees, plants, animals, rivers, mountains etc), Nature worship commands great sanctity inmost ofthe communities. There are communities, which have tot the Indian tradition, nature and man form an inseparable part ofthe life support system, The five elements i. ait, water, land, flora and fauna are inter-related Boos Fill in the blanks with appropriate words from brackets: 0 ‘The word environment is derived from. word. [Latin, English,@ Environment can be divided into types. [2, 4, 6,7] ii) Physical environment contain - Biotic, abiotic, both the components] ) Biological components contains - Biotic, abiotic, both the components} (W) The changing relationship between man and environment has been divided in____phases. (6,84, 5] 22.4.1 The Biosphere Biosphere is life-supporting layer, which surrounds the earth and makes plant and animal life possible without any protective device. It consists of all the living organisms (the biotic component), energy (energy component) and physical environment (abiotic component). ‘There are continuous interactions between living organisms and physical environmentand also among the living organisms themselves. The average thickness of the biosphere or life-supporting layer consists of ar, The Biosphere of earth water, soil and rock is about 30 km. ‘The upper limitof the biosphere is determined by the availability of oxygen, moisture, temperature, and air pressure with increase in height in the atmosphere limits the upper boundary of the biosphere. The lower limits of the biosphere are determined by the availability of required amount of oxygen and light, which can sustain life. Thus, the depth of the biosphere over the land is unto the depth of the deepest roots of the trees or the depth unto which can live the burrowing organisms or the depth at which lie the parent bedrocks, The biosphere extends unto greater depth inthe oceans. ‘The existence of life has been detected unto a depth of 9000 m in the deep oceanic trenches and deep-sea plains. SocioLocySociety and Our Environment 22.4.2 Socio-Sphere ‘Manisa social animal with the inbuilt instinct to be with his group. Since man is, most communicative, his behavioural concems relate to his fellow beings. Thus man’sattitudes to life and value system are shaped by the size and quality of the group towhich he belongs. Groups of people living together on a certain territory form a community. It comprises a composition of species, a characteristic food network and energy flow pathway. Communities thus form the living components of living components of eco-system. Over the time, species in each community carve out a special place for themselves. Community is not stable but dynamic, changing regularly over time and space. ‘A community has its own composition, structure, and developmental history. Environment and society are closely related and inter-dependent. Different social ‘groups and social structures like industrial, agricultural, political, cultural, religious and aesthetic etc. have evolved and developed during variousstages ofdevelopment « of human civilization and these social structures represent man’s accumulated cultural resources primarily based on natural environment. Environmenthas been changing over a period of time due to @ Variations in climatic and physiographic factors, and (i) Theactivities of the species of the communities themselves. ‘These influences bring about a inarked change in the dominance of the existing community. Human behaviour has been known by its characteristics, social “organizations, social processes, economy and culture depend upon geographical environment. Density and distribution of population, social differentiation, cultural variations, character of economic, political, social, religious organizations and all social phenomena contribute in the making of the socio sphere. Boos Tick true (T) or false (F) 1. Biosphere is alife-supporting layer, which surrounds the earth. (T/F) 2. The average thickness of the biosphere is about 50km. (T/F) 3. Biosphere consists of territorial and aquatic biomes system. (T/F) 4. Group of people living together on a certain territory form a community. (rr) 5. Environments stable and dynamic. (T/F) ——_——$ —— OGYEffects of environment on human society has been emerging asa major challenge for quite sometime. Development was for long associated with under exploitation of natural resources. It was little realised that obsession with under exploitation ‘may resultin over-exploitation, We seemed to have believed that natural resources are inexhaustible. Environmental process includes those physical processes, which ‘operate on the surface of the earth both internally and externally. Though man began to interfere with the natural processes right from the beginning of sedentary life, it assurned greater in proportion after the industrial revolution. ‘The impact of modem technology on environmentis varied and highly complex as the transformation or modification ofour natural condition and process leads to aseries of changes in the biotic and abiotic components of natural environment process. We have een that man, equipped with modem technologiesand -dvanced scientific knowledge, has become an important factor in changing the environmental processes. It has to be realized that disturbances in one of the elements of nature (ie. air, water, land, flora and fauna) gives rise to'an imbalance in others, Natural processes orhuman factors some times aggravate natural environmental process to cause disaster for human society like(earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, floods, cyclones ete). They result in heavy loss of life and property. Environmental hazards for human health are as follows: @ Airpollution causes respiratory diseases. (Water pollution causes enteric diseases. Gi) Solid waste pollution causes vector-bome diseases. Gi) Toxic waste causes cancer and neurological disorders. Water Pollution causes environment hazards and entric diseases MODULE - IIT ocial Change, Socialization and Social ControlMODULE -IIt) pcial Change, Socialization) and Social Contro ‘Therefore, education must arouse awareness about the effects of environment, as clean environment is precious for human society: Bos Tick true (T) or false (F). 1. Manhas never interfered with environment. Fy |. Effects ofenvironment on society are always positive. (T/F) |. Extreme events are not disastrous forhuman society. (I/F) |. Education must be broad based to create awareness Environment refers to the sum total of conditions, which surround man ata given pointin space and time. In the past, the environment of man consisted only of physical aspects of the planet earth (air, water and land) and the biotic communities. © However, in due course of time and advancement of society, man extended his environment through social, economic and political functions. ‘¢ Theenvironmentis both physical and biological concept and includes both the nor-living (abiotic) and living (biotic) components of planetearth. © Onthe basis ofthis structure, environmentis divided into two types (i) physical, orabiotic environment or (ii) biological or biotic environment. Therelationship between man and the environment has changed over the years. Itis interesting to note the three aspects of man (i) physical, (ji) social (iii) economic in relation to environment. © Thechanging relationship of man with the environment from pre-historic to modem times can be divided into four phases. |) Hunting and food gathering. j) Animal domestication and pastoralism. ii) Plant domestication and agriculture. 48) Science technology ad industrialisati ‘© Biosphereis life supporting layer which surrounds the earth and makes plant ‘and animal life possible without any protective device. Social, economic, cultural and political elements make the socio-sphere.‘© Man, being an activeagent of environment change process, modifies the eco- system through exploitation of natural resources. Effects of environment on human society are a major challenge. Modem technology and advanced scientific knowledge has become an important factor in changing the environment. GLOSSARY —_ Emvirorment—surroundings ofextemal conditions, influencing development or growth of people, animals or plants, living or working conditions. (1) Biotic- living components of planet earth. (M1) Abiotic-non-living components of planet earth. (IV) Lithosphere-the relatively then solid crust or outer layer of earth. (Y) — Hydrosphere- the water sphere applied to all the water onthe earth’ssurface. (VD Atmosphere- the gaseous envelope surrounding "|. carth, (V1) Flora-all the plants of particular area and period of time. (VI) Fauna- all the animals of particular area and period of time. (20) Domestication—to keep animals under control. (Terrestrial —plants ot animals growing on land. (XD) Aquatic— growing, living or found in water. (XI) Eco-system —relationship between environment and surroundings. (XM) Biomes— the whole complex plants and animals of a particular special type. (XIV) Species~a group of animals, plants and human beings or organisms sharing ‘common attributes that forms a subdivision of genes. (KV) Vector borne—a transmissible disease. PF lomncomorass Write answerin 100-250 words * (Q Whatis an environment? (100 words) @ Describe the stages of relationship between man and environment.MODULE -HI cial Change, Socialization) and Social Contro (Ul) What's a biosphere? Name two sub systems of biosphere. (IV) What isa sociosphere? (100 words) (V)_ Explain the effects of environment on human society. (100 Words) 22.1 1. French 2.2 3.abiotech 4. biotech (5.4 22.2 1. True, 2. False 3. True 4.Tre 5. False